AMHERST – The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers returned to hockey action Saturday night during their home game against the Dieppe Commandos. The Ramblers took in a win over the Commandos with a final score of 10-5.
“I thought we came out and moved really hard,” said Ramblers’ coach Jim Bottomely. “We got the jump on them and then we got ourselves into some trouble. We came out and played physical and they couldn’t handle it.”
The rink not only saw some hockey but was a scene of two fist fights in the first period. Amherst Rambler Patrick Harrison received a penalty for elbowing and for fighting along with Dieppe Commando player Joslin Gallant, who was called for fighting. Commandos’ Colton Stairs received a penalty for instigating the second fight as well as time for fighting with Robert Davis, who also earned penalty time for fighting. Both the Dieppe coaches were kicked out of the game for misconduct after the second fight between Stairs and Davis.
“That’s how some games go, you can’t really change it,” said Rambler Kyle Beckwith. “You should avoid doing that all the time because that’s just penalty minutes for our guys that we don’t want. We don’t want to be the team that’s all penalty minutes.”
Even with the side action in the first period, the Ramblers lead the way earning four goals from Jesse MacInnis, Jeff MacPherson, Josh Pugsley and Mitchell O’Neill, with Kody Orr, Brett Shute, Jamie Bishop, MacPherson, Pugsley and O’Neill all earning assists. The Commandos came out of the first period with a single goal scored by Robbie Graham, assisted by Joel Blanchard and Shane Dallaire.
Although the Ramblers slacked off a bit in the second period, Bottomely said he’s not worried about the team’s performance Saturday night nor is he worried about how they will fare in their upcoming game against the Woodstock Slammers.
“We did give up a lot of shots but it was just a case of coming back after three weeks off and not staying focused throughout the whole game,” he said.
The Commandos started to fight back in the second period, bringing in three goals scored by Joslin Gallant, Alex Snow and Robbie Graham with Shane Dallair, Joel Blanchard, Lindon Beckwith, and Ryan Lagan all earning assists. But the Ramblers brought in three of their own goals, bringing the score at the end of the second period to 7-4.
For Beckwith, the game against the Commandos was a tough match as he was facing off against his younge cousin.
“It was weird because we’re more like brothers, so if he’s coming down on me it’s like, do I hit him? Do I just get the puck? But I liked it, it was fun,” he said.
The Ramblers scored three more goals in the final period from MacInnis, Orr and Danny Harquail to the Commandos single goal scored by Joal Blanchard.
The Ramblers return to hockey action Sunday night in Woodstock New Brunswick where they will face off against the Woodstock Slammers at the Carleton Civic Centre.
jturner@amherstdaily.com
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